Why Do You Need to Register Your Startup?

Innovation is the foundation of every Startup. With a view to encourage the development of Startups in the country and to provide them with a competitive platform, the Government of India launched an initiative- Startup India.

What is the Need to Register a Startup?

1. A registered Startup can claim for exemptions from the regulatory compliances of several Labor laws and Environmental laws for 5 years from the date of incorporation.
2. Processing of patent applications for Startups is a fast track and up to 80% of rebate can be claimed.
3. Tax exemptions on capital gains and investments above FMV are provided to the Startups which enable the Startups to be better funded.
4. Tax Exemptions under the Income Tax Act is provided to the Startups so that the business is conducted smoothly without being burdened by the tax liabilities. 
5. The government aims at providing equal opportunities to the startups in the manufacturing sector as those with experienced entrepreneurs/ companies in public procurement. Thus the startups in the manufacturing sector are exempted from providing ‘prior turnover/experience’, without providing any relaxation in technical parameters and quality standards.
6. Funding support is provided to the registered Startups in form of guarantee funds through National Credit Guarantee Trust Company/ SIDBI and Alternate Investment Funds.   
7. Easy exit for Startups by the way of provision of winding up the company within 90 days under the IBC.

How to Register your Startup? 

1. Incorporating the Startup either as an LLP or a Company or a Partnership Firm. Hence, the founders can go ahead with registration process according to the choice of structure. The procedure for Company registration, LLP registration and Partnership firm registration shall be the usual followed by other businesses.
2. The business then has to be registered as a Startup on to the Startup India website. It is a fairly easy process with only details of the business to be carried out to be uploaded with certain documents. The application has to be submitted online without any physical copy to be provided.

3. The Details to be Supplied are:

• Nature of the Entity
• Industry of business
• Sector under the industry
• Categories of the business (multiple options can be selected)
• Name of Entity and PAN 
• Incorporation/ Registration Number and Date
• Details of the registered address
• Details of the Authorized Representatives
• Details of the Directors/ Partners
• Other details related to the products/ service of the Startup
• Self-Certification that the Startup falls under the definition of a startup provided by DIPP.

4. Documents to be provided with the application form are:

• A awards/recognition document if has been received by the entity.
• Any links or any additional document to support application, eg. Website link, Videos, Pitch Deck, Patents, etc.
• Proof of funding, if any.
• One out of the following list of documents has to be uploaded with the application form
• Recommendation with respect to the innovation related to the nature of business from any established Incubator in a post-graduate college in India or recognized by Government of India;
• Letter of support by any Incubator funded by Central or State Government;
• Letter of funding of not less than 20% in the equity by any Angel Fund/ Incubation Fund/ Private Equity Fund/ Angel Network/ Accelerator which is registered with SEBI, endorsing the innovative nature of the business.
• Patent filed and published in the Journal by the India Patent Office.

5. After completion of the application, the applicant can seek to gain the advantage of the tax exemptions provided to Startups. One can apply for it at a later stage as well. 

6. Upon successful submission of the application, a Recognition Number shall immediately be allotted and the Certificate of Recognition would be issued typically within 24 hours. A system generated verifiable Certificate of Recognition can be downloaded.